Cataract surgery in patients with age-related maculopathy: preoperative diagnosis and postoperative visual acuity

Purpose: To report the reliability in detecting age‐related maculopathy (ARM) lesions before cataract surgery and postoperative visual acuity (VA) in cataract surgery patients with ARM. Methods: Medical records of surgical patients in a large public hospital, west of Sydney, were reviewed retrospectively. Detection of ARM lesions was compared before and after surgery to determine sensitivity and specificity of preoperative diagnoses. Postoperative VA was assessed 4 weeks after surgery. Results: Data were available for 721/784 eyes (92.0%) of 656 patients aged 60 years or older. ARM lesions were detected in 98 eyes (13.6%) before and 92 eyes (12.8%) after surgery. Sensitivities for detecting late ARM lesions, soft drusen and retinal pigment epithelium abnormalities preoperatively were 100%, 94% and 69%, respectively. Corresponding specificities were 100%, 100% and 77%, respectively. Postoperative VA achieved or remained 6/12 or better in 81.6% of eyes. Conclusion: A high sensitivity and specificity in detecting late ARM lesions and soft drusen preoperatively, and a good postoperative VA outcome is achievable in patients with preoperative early ARM lesions.